The hotly contested winners of 2026's New Zealand Bakels Supreme Pie Awards were crowned last night, and it was a bacon and egg pie from Auckland's Levain Bakery that took the top prize for the first time!

But what you may not know about this year's Supreme pie is that the recipe was crafted and kept within their Vietnamese family for the past 40 years, after the Blockhouse Bay bakery's original owner fell in love with bacon and egg pies.

“We never had bacon and egg pies in our culture, but French patisserie and baking were in our blood," owner Sean Vo said.

"Dad loved bacon and egg pies. He ate one almost every day. That was his thing in the morning, a cup of tea or coffee and a bacon and egg pie. That’s my fondest memory of Dad when I was growing up."

The award comes after a stressful time for the business, which was forced to close in May due to a bug infestation. The bakery reopened with an A-grade rating a few weeks later.

“You deserve the highest standards of food safety, and we fell short of them,” the bakery posted on social media at the time.

The winning Bacon & Egg pie features a bacon rosette on top and was described by judges as “a pure delight to taste with its smoky slices and petite core of bacon, the generous amount of whole eggs, and that signature light, yet creamy sauce with a delicate hint of cheese.”